The Effects of Overcrowding on Student ... - Martin School

MARTIN SCHOOL OF PUBLIC POLICY AND ADMINISTRATION

The Effects of Overcrowding on Student Academic Performance in

Kentucky High Schools

Maura Shirley MPA Capstone University of Kentucky

Spring 2017

Faculty Advisor: Dr. Eugenia Toma

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Table of Contents Executive Summary.......................................................................................3 Introduction.................................................................................................4 Policy Question.............................................................................................5 Literature Review.....................................................................................................6

Overview of Overcrowding in Schools..........................................................6 Overcrowding Symptoms and Remedies.......................................................7 Overcrowding and Student Academic Performance.........................................10 Research Methods.........................................................................................11 Variables and Regression Equation............................................................12 Results......................................................................................................16 Limitations..................................................................................................19 Conclusions and Recommendations....................................................................20

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Executive Summary

Overcrowding in schools has been a popular topic reported by local newspapers across the state of Kentucky. Concerned parents often write letters to the editor, pleading their case for new school construction to alleviate the overcrowding that their students are facing. Approximately 27 percent of Kentucky high schools have experienced overcrowding for three consecutive years between 2002 and 2015. The National Center for Education Statistics reported in 2005 that only 18 percent of schools reported that they were overcrowded, a decrease from the 1999 study when 22 percent reported overcrowding. Overall, the problem of overcrowding is trending downward, but for the students who attend schools that remain overcrowded, the visibility of the issue makes it one that receives ample attention. The concern of parents, teachers and administration about the effects of overcrowding and the plea for new construction has inspired this study, which stands among just a few similar studies found in the literature of overcrowding in schools. This study attempts to unveil the assumed negative effects of overcrowding and make policy recommendations based on the findings.

This study examines 192 Kentucky High Schools between the years 2002 and 2015. Schools that reported enrollments above 105 percent of capacity were considered overcrowded. Other demographic and school wide aggregate data were used as controls for the fixed effects panel regression. The results of the study found that overcrowding, for three, four and five consecutive years, does not have a statistically significant effect on student academic performance, as approximated by ACT composite scores of eleventh graders. The study did find that student teacher ratio does have a negative effect on ACT composite scores, which provides evidence that symptoms of overcrowding should be monitored and policy should reflect this concern.

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Introduction The Scott County, Kentucky school district is home to eight elementary schools, three

middle schools, one technical school and one high school. The high school's enrollment has increased from 6% over capacity to 56% over capacity over the last ten years. This has put stress on the facility, as well as the teachers and students. In the fall of 2016, the Scott County School Board discussed formal plans for building a second high school as a remedy for overcrowding as well as the need for a nickel tax (5 percent increase to existing property tax) to raise capital funds to support the new construction. The community is largely in favor of new construction and believes it will provide much needed relief, as Scott County's population continues to grow. According to the Herald Leader, a local newspaper in neighboring Fayette County, parents have become frustrated with the lack of response to overcrowding by the Scott County School Board. "The school board has said that the overcrowding at the school-which is at least 20 percent over capacity- has not hurt the quality of education" (Meehan, 2016). However, parents in the school district claim that "Scott County does have lower college readiness scores than high schools in surrounding counties and... the quality of an education goes beyond test scores...It's past time for action" (Meehan, 2016).

Overcrowding in schools has been a topic of many education policy researchers. It has become a subject that is often reported in local newspapers and is discussed in teacher's lounges across the country. Teachers worry about meeting the needs of more students and with fewer resources. Students and parents complain about classroom conditions and insufficient books and lockers for students. Over the years, researchers have looked at why many urban schools are over capacity and proposed solutions to the overcrowding, such as private schooling and opening new facilities. Overcrowding hasn't received the same research attention as other topics in education

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such as income and education levels of parents of students, early childhood education and teacher effects on student performance. Class size is related to the issue of overcrowding, and this problem has been studied in depth via the famous experimental Tennessee STAR study (Nye et al. 1999). However, the problem of overcrowding has many different causes and implications. Growing class size is just one symptom of school overcrowding. Because overcrowding can be a costly problem to address, I believe its effects warrant more investigating. Policy Question

This study explores the incidence of overcrowding among Kentucky high schools, and calculates the degree of overcrowding by comparing capacity to student population. Previous research designates a school as overcrowded if its student population is over 5% greater than the facility's capacity (NCES). Using this as a standard measure of overcrowding in this study, along with several other independent variables including school wide demographics, facility information, and federal funding statistics, the effects of overcrowding on student performance will be analyzed.

There are many possible policy implications for the findings of this study. School boards have tried to remedy overcrowding for years through the use of year-round school calendars, temporary portable classrooms, magnet schools and the construction of new facilities. There are policies in place in Kentucky that designate the priority of needs for school districts. This study will help determine the effects of overcrowding on student performance in Kentucky high schools and may be used to inform future policies regarding remedies through new facility construction.

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Literature Review Overview of Overcrowding in Schools

Over the past 2 decades, the topic of overcrowding in schools has piqued the interest of policy makers and researchers. Teachers and students on the front lines deal with the issue of overcrowding every day and feel its effects. Overcrowding has been defined by these researchers and policy makers in different ways over the years and in broad terms is described as a school that has enrolled more students than the facility was created to accommodate. In 1999 the National Center for Education Statistics narrowed the definition of overcrowding using the following formula:

X= [(total student enrollment) ? (capacity of permanent instructional buildings and space)] / (capacity of permanent instructional buildings and space) (NCES 2000, 45). This formula results in a percentage that is then used to determine overcrowding. "When the value of the proportion was over 5 percent and positive, the enrollment exceeded the building's capacity, and the school was considered overcrowded (or overenrolled)" (NCES 2000, 45). By using this percentage as a marker, many schools in the United States at the time this report was published, were under enrolled and below school capacity. However, "about a quarter [of the schools were] overcrowded based on the capacity of their permanent instructional buildings and space" (NCES 2000, 46). This definition is important to the research conducted on overcrowding as well as to policy makers in school districts across the country that make capital project plans based on overcrowding in schools.

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Overcrowding Symptoms and Remedies One part of the definition in particular "permanent instructional buildings and space"

(NCES 2000, 46) brings into question the use of temporary structures such as mobile classrooms to alleviate symptoms of overcrowding. These have increasingly become a mainstay in schools in the United States as they are often an affordable alternative to new construction.

Figure 1 Percentage of public schools with and without portables, by overenrollement status: Fall 2005

According to the NCES Principals Report of 2005, about 18% of overenrolled schools have portable classrooms (Figure 1). This figure also shows that about 19% of schools that are not overcrowded are also using portable classrooms (NCES, 2005, 8). One-third of the principals of schools with portable classrooms popularly cited the following three reasons for their use: "An increase in enrollment (69 percent), initiatives to reduce class size (34 percent), and a need to add or expand an academic support program (33 percent)" (NCES, 2005, 9). However, some researchers argue that these structures are not always perfect substitutes of traditional classrooms. In scholars, Rivera-Batiz and Marti's 1995 study of NYC schools, they conclude that "Insofar as students find it harder to concentrate and get motivated in cramped, unsuitable space, overcrowding would have a negative impact on student achievement" (Rivera-Batiz and Marti

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1995, 5). Similarly, in a study of California schools by Lee, Ready and Welner, portable classrooms were cited as "detrimental for the state's most disadvantaged students... [and] actually exacerbate inequality in educational outcomes by race, ethnicity, and class" (Lee, Ready, and Welder 2002, 33). This leads scholars and school boards alike searching for the best solutions to address overcrowding, which is exactly how many education scholars approach this topic in the literature. Overcrowding can have very visible impacts on schools that lead parents, teachers and communities to believe academic performance is adversely effected. However, this assumed correlation has not received much attention by scholars. Class size is one of the visible and discernible effects of overcrowding and has been deeply analyzed. Understanding the existing literature about this topic and others related to overcrowding will help build context for this particular study.

The Tennessee STAR experiment conducted in the 1980s has become a shining example of experimental design in the educational research field. This study looked at the effects of class size on student academic performance through a five year follow up that was published in 1999. Class size is often confused with overcrowding, but increased class size is just one, very important symptom of an overcrowded school. The Tennessee STAR experiment found that there were long-term (5 years), positive effects on students who had been in smaller classes (Nye, Hedges, and Konstantopoulos 1999). Being an experimental design, this study has been widely used to justify finding quick solutions to overcrowding, as students in overcrowded schools may be subject to classrooms with large student teacher ratios.

There have been a number of researchers who have looked into the effects of private schooling, bussing, and year-round calendars as a means of reducing class size as well as for providing more resources (books, teachers, aids, desks, lockers, etc.) to students in overcrowded

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